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This report by Sudan Tribune is part of a collaborative newsroom initiative launched by the Sudan Media Forum under the #StandWithSudan campaign.
24 August 2024 (El Fasher) – In the heart of Zam Zam refugee camp near El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, displaced resident Mariam Abdullah witnessed the horror of her child starving to death. Unable to provide food and medicine, her family could only watch his tragic death.
Earlier this week, Mariam told Sudan Tribune, a subsidiary of the Sudan Media Forum*, of her grief over the loss of her three-year-old son, Babik Carter, who had been suffering from malnutrition. “I watched him die in my hands because we could not provide him with treatment and food,” she said.
Her tragedy reflects the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people trapped in the shelling and fighting in and around El Fasher. All parties to the conflict have been accused of obstructing the distribution of aid, leading to severe shortages of essential goods and a sharp increase in prices. These prices are far beyond the means of the displaced, especially as job opportunities are scarce, even in the market and agricultural sectors.
Previously, Mariam worked at the market to provide her children with one meal a day, but the ongoing fighting forced the market to close, leaving her with no income to buy food.
“My children were too young to endure hunger and died. Many of my neighbours’ children also died, with doctors saying the cause was malnutrition and acute diarrhoea.”
“We have no corn or anything else… The camp is surrounded by the (paramilitary Rapid Support Forces) RSF and aid groups have stopped giving us food. The remaining children must be saved to prevent more deaths.”
Even as her children died of hunger, Mariam made an urgent appeal for food and medicine to save the children of Zam Zam refugee camp from widespread famine.
On August 1, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) declared famine in Zamzam refugee camp, which houses 500,000 displaced persons. However, Sudanese authorities denied the famine and blamed the food shortages in the displaced persons camp on the siege of El Fasher by the Rapid Security Forces.
Located approximately 11 km south of El Fasher, the Zam Zam refugee camp is divided into four areas: A, B, C and D. The larger area, A, is home to displaced persons who fled their homes at the height of the anti-government war in Darfur in 2004.
“Living on Grass”
Alawiya Abakar, a displaced person, described the situation in Zam Zam camp as dire, with a lack of supplies, high prices and food shortages. She explained that the displaced used to rely on food rations from the United Nations World Food Programme, but these were stopped when the war broke out.
Alawia fears famine will soon sweep across North Darfur as millet and sorghum are already in short supply, job opportunities are scarce and livelihoods are disrupted.
She stressed that high prices and extreme scarcity of basic commodities have forced many people, including her family, to rely on madeeda, a porridge made from sorghum or millet with water, salt and sometimes sugar. Alavi noted that due to the lack of food, they can only eat grasses such as mallow that grow with rainwater, even as doctors warn that relying on a single, unhealthy food source makes them more vulnerable to disease.
Currently, a kilogram of meat in Zam Zam camp costs 10,000 Sudanese pounds, which is unaffordable for most camp residents. Medicines are also in short supply, exacerbating the spread of epidemics such as malaria and watery diarrhea.
Alawia reported that three to four children died every day in Zam Zam refugee camp from malnutrition.
Nourehuda Hamid, a human rights activist in Zamzam refugee camp, holds the RSF responsible for the deteriorating conditions. She says the RSF siege of El Fasher has led to famine in Zamzam and other areas. Restrictions on food and medicine have led to the spread of illnesses, including malaria, infections and fevers, and eye infections.
She described thousands of women struggling to receive treatment at health centres supported by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), noting that the international organisation provides therapeutic nutrition to children under five and pregnant women. She reported an increase in cases of malnutrition among children, leading to higher mortality rates among children and pregnant women.
In addition to the lack of food and medicine, residents of Zam Zam camp also face insecurity on the outskirts of the camp due to the heavy deployment of tribal militias allied to the Rapid Security Forces during clashes with the army and armed movements in El Fasher.
“Girls who leave the camps are often raped by the Rapid Security Forces and allied militias. The killing and rape of women by the Rapid Security Forces and their allies are common.”
The United Nations called for immediate action to stop the Rapid Security Forces’ attacks in El Fasher and to open safe passage for the delivery of humanitarian aid to fight famine, particularly in the Zam Zam refugee camp.
Contaminated water
Displaced people in Zam Zam camp live in shacks made of local materials such as soft bricks and straw, which are unable to withstand the strong winds and heavy rains currently hitting the area. As more families flee El Fasher, others are staying in overcrowded schools.
Adam Mousa, an activist at Zamzam camp, reported that the camp received displaced people from Nyala, Eddein, El Geneina, Zalingei, Khartoum, El Obeid and Gezira. Some lived in huts with their families, while others were accommodated in 14 schools.
He said living conditions had become more difficult since the outbreak of the war and had worsened since the Rapid Security Forces began their siege of El Fasher in April. Humanitarian organizations had ceased operations and displaced people were left without food, medical treatment or shelter.
Moussa noted that displaced people had stopped farming before the conflict broke out because the Janjaweed had seized their lands. Now, children and the elderly are dying of starvation.
He complained about the shortage of drinking water, with 80 per cent of the camp’s wells dry, forcing at least a third of residents to rely on water brought in by vendors from El Fasher, where a barrel of water currently costs up to 6,000 Sudanese pounds due to high fuel prices.
According to Moussa, the displaced people have only rainwater, pond water and swamp water to drink, despite the risk of diarrhoea caused by water contamination.
The ongoing conflict and siege of El Fasher has created an existential crisis for tens of thousands of the most vulnerable displaced people, who fear they will starve to death one by one.
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